title: Innovation in healthcare. The challenge for laboratory medicine.
abstract: The delivery of healthcare is the product of a complex organization and it is not entirely surprising that innovation is not always considered to deliver on the expectations generated by invention. As policymakers and payers seek to improve the quality and value-for-money of healthcare, more attention is being directed at the barriers to innovation, and the challenges of translating inventions into outcomes. Laboratory medicine is one facet of healthcare that has generated considerable levels of invention but, while showing increasing volumes of activity over the past decades, it has not been recognized for generating the benefit in outcomes that might have been expected. One of the major reasons for this position has been the poor quality of evidence available to demonstrate the impact of laboratory investigations on health outcomes. Consequently an absence of evidence stifles the opportunity to develop the business case that demonstrates the link between test result and improved outcome. This has a major influence on the success of innovation in laboratory medicine. This review explores the process of innovation applied to laboratory medicine and offers an insight into how the impact of laboratory medicine on health outcomes can be improved.
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom. Electronic address: cpprice1@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Christopher P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: St John
mesh_terms: D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D006801:Humans; D062069:Inventions / Q000639:trends; D013677:Medical Laboratory Science / Q000379:methods*; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical
keywords: Evidence-based practice; Health outcomes; Innovation; Invention; Laboratory medicine